OTTAWA — The Harper government’s road map to this year’s federal budget suggests it is prepared to pour more money into programs and services for the country’s veterans, while largely holding the line on defence spending.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement released the 2015-16 spending estimates on Tuesday, even though it’s unclear when the budget will be tabled.

The Conservative government’s final fiscal plan before this year’s election was postponed until at least April by Finance Minister Joe Oliver, who said he needed the time to assess the impact of collapsing oil prices.

The government has been under mounting political pressure to improve the suite of benefits and entitlements for ex-soldiers.

The estimates, which are not the final word on the budget, project modest increases in the amount spent on disability awards and supplementary benefits.

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Despite that, overall spending at Veterans Affairs is expected to decline by 1.5% — or $54 million next year, something federal officials attribute to the declining number of Second World War and Korean War veterans.

Veterans Affairs Canada spends just over $3.5 billion per year.

Over at National Defence, another politically-charged portfolio, spending is expected to increase by 1.5% — $280 million — in the coming year, bringing the military budget to $18.9 billion.

Officials say they will be saving $709.2 million in capital costs, some of which is likely related to the cancellation of the army’s plans for a close-combat vehicle and delays in acquiring maritime helicopters for the air force.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/25/early-spending-estimates-suggest-more-money-for-canadian-veterans-though-not-for-defence-spending/feed/0stdTony ClementStephane Dion wants to make sure that all ministers are tweeting everything in both French and Englishhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/17/stephane-dion-wants-to-make-sure-that-all-ministers-are-tweeting-everything-in-both-french-and-english/
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OTTAWA — A former Liberal leader has written to Treasury Board President Tony Clement seeking assurances that federal ministers communicate in both official languages on social media networks like Twitter.

Stephane Dion says in his letter that according to the government’s communication policy, institutions must ensure that communications conform to the Official Languages Act.

But Dion, the Liberal official languages critic, says an overwhelming number of ministers including Clement himself do not do so on social media.

He says its raises concerns that social media becomes a way to circumvent the requirements of the act.

The federal information commissioner is investigating multiple cases where it appears that government departments aren’t releasing data in easy-to-read formats, even though the law requires it.

The ongoing investigations, which are prompted by complaints from requesters, comes as the federal minister who oversees the access-to-information regime suggested some data couldn’t be released in easy-to-read formats, such as spreadsheets, over fears people may post “corrupt” information.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Treasury Board President Tony Clement couldn’t identify any incident where government information had been falsified. Neither could information commissioner Suzanne Legault’s office.

“We are not aware of any incidents where datasets were manipulated in order to falsify data,” said Legault spokeswoman Natalie Hall.

“However, we do have a few ongoing cases where the allegations are that the government is not releasing information in a requested format, but these cases are not yet completed. Hence, we cannot comment on them.”

The federal access-to-information law allows any requester to ask for information in digital formats, such as spreadsheets. Some departments have been more reluctant than others to meet those requests. That has meant extra time for researchers or journalists making the request to transfer data into easy-to-handle forms to identify trends or issues.

Departments can refuse to hand out records in the requested format in cases where converting the information would take up an unreasonable amount of time and money.

“The objectives of ‘Open Government’ will not be met if the government chooses to disclose information in an open format through the ‘Open Data Initiative,’ but not adopt the same practice for information requested through access to information,” Hall said.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, Clement said some data sets couldn’t be released over worries that they would be “manipulated and altered, thereby creating a situation of false information.”

Clement called the “balancing act” a way to prevent requesters from having “the ability to create havoc” by making data sets “changeable online.” Clement said that in those situations, the government needed to ensure data are not “corrupted in some way.”

A spokeswoman for Clement said his comments were in regards to one access-to-information request.

“The government of Canada is committed to openness and transparency and takes Canadians’ right of access seriously,” Heather Domereckyj said. “Government ATIP officials make every effort to assist requesters in a manner consistent with the letter and spirit of the Access to Information Act including where and when possible, providing the information in the requested format.”

One open data advocate said he was stunned by Clement’s comments, saying they ran counter to what Clement has said previously about open government initiatives.

David Eaves, who helped prod the government into creating its open data portal with data sets, said that if anyone misrepresented federal data online, other users would identify the error in “10 seconds.” The government could also publicly release all documents provided to the requester to show the original data set. And in extreme cases, the police could always get involved, he said.

Eaves suggested Clement’s definition of “corrupt” was playing with data in a way the government didn’t like.

“You don’t not create roads because you’re worried [drivers] are going to speed — you enforce speeding rules,” said Eaves.

The Conservative government has tabled a new contract offer that would give Canada’s public servants six paid sick days a year and let them claim some of the unused days they previously accumulated, before it eliminates the $5.2 billion sick-leave bank altogether in 2017.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada and Treasury Board are meeting this week for another round of contract talks in which government negotiators will present the new offer that has been quietly made to other unions over the past month. PSAC is the largest of the 17 unions, representing the majority of public servants in five large bargaining groups.

So far, the two sides are divided over sick leave. Treasury Board President Tony Clement is bent on scrapping the existing sick-leave regime and replacing it with a short-term disability plan by 2017.

For the unions, the new offer is an improvement on the government’s opening proposal, which slashed paid sick leave from 15 days a year to five days. It also proposed an unpaid seven-day waiting period before employees can apply for sick benefits under the new short-term disability plan. Also, the bank of unused sick leave that public servants have rolled over year-to-year would be eliminated.

Treasury Board softened the original offer by offering public servants six days – rather than five – of annual paid sick leave.

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After using those days, employees would still face a seven-day unpaid waiting period before they can apply for short-term disability benefits. Once on disability, they can collect 100 per cent of salary for five weeks, rather than the original four weeks proposed. After that, benefits are reduced to 70% of salary, under the government’s plan.

But the new proposal introduces a formula that will allow employees with accumulated sick leave to convert it into credits that can be used to top up benefits from 70% of salary to 85%.

Under the formula, sick leave is converted from time banked into “top-up credits” at a rate of 15 hours for 15 per cent of income. This means someone off work sick for six weeks (five weeks plus the unpaid seven-day waiting period) can use about two days of banked sick leave to top up benefits from 70 per cent to 85 per cent of salary.

The credits can also be used to bridge the unpaid seven-day waiting period for disability.

These credits, however, are only good for the first year following the plan’s implementation. In September 2017, the government plans to abolish the sick-leave bank. Similarly, the banking of sick leave will stop once the new disability plan is up and running in September 2016.

The new proposal, however, will allow public servants who don’t use their six days of sick leave to carry over one day a year to a maximum of seven days.

The government’s internal studies estimate public servants have socked away about $5.2 billion worth of sick-leave credits. It expects bureaucrats will only use about $1.5 billion of that due to illness – which is the amount booked in the Public Accounts as the liability for sick leave.

Under existing collective agreements, public servants get 15 days a year and any unused days can be rolled over from year to year. Public servants can’t cash out their banked sick leave when they leave or retire, so it disappears.

The PSAC wouldn’t discuss the offer but has presented its proposals for a “healthy workplace.” The union has argued fewer sick days, combined with the unpaid seven-day waiting period, mean people will go to work sick and infect their colleagues rather than stay home and lose pay.

Relations between unions and Clement are fractious and have been deteriorating since the Conservatives began cutting public servants’ benefits and weakening bargaining rights.

The negotiations that began last summer have made little progress and, many argue, have departed from the norm. The two sides normally table positions, then the horse-trading begins with counter-proposals.

Treasury Board began this round of negotiating by asking the unions to take part in “consultations” outside the bargaining table about the new short-term disability plan, which they unanimously rejected.

Treasury Board then tabled its first offer but the unions decided not to respond with counter-proposals until the government explained its business case for the new plan and why it was necessary. Without a counter-proposal, some were surprised that Treasury Board came out of the blue with a new, second offer.

“Treasury Board is tabling different positions but has yet to explain why these changes are necessary which really is a requirement of bargaining in good faith. It has to explain why and that is what is missing so far in these talks,” said Ron Cochrane, co-chair of the joint union and management National Joint Council.

“He (Clement) is being a dictator. You can’t dictate in collective bargaining. You have to negotiate.”

But Clement disagrees. “We are bargaining. We are putting forward positions and amending positions. We really want to engage with the unions on how they see sick leave improving,” said Clement.

Clement is also clear he will only negotiate details of the new short-term disability plan. He’s not open to discussing how to revamp the existing plan.

“Their bargaining position is about tinkering with the current system and that isn’t good enough,” said Clement. “My position is we actually have to have a modern system but we certainly want to hear from them on how to implement a modern system and make sure it is positive for employees. That is the kind of conversation I want to have.”

The Conservative government proposes to slash public servants’ paid sick leave to five days a year and introduce an unpaid seven-day waiting period before they qualify for new short-term disability benefits.

Treasury Board negotiators presented the government’s long-awaited bargaining position on a new sick-leave regime late Wednesday at closed-door talks with the giant Public Service Alliance of Canada. PSAC is the largest federal union, representing the majority of public servants in five large bargaining groups that have been locked in contract negotiations with Treasury Board this week.

Under the proposal, the government wants to get rid of the accumulated sick-leave bank, estimated to worth about $5.2 billion in unused sick-leave credits. It also wants to eliminate the 15 days of paid sick leave that public servants now receive under their collective agreements and replace that with five days or 37.5 hours year.

PSAC President Robyn Benson said the union won’t be entertaining any proposal that demands concessions on the existing sick-leave regime. She called the proposal a “go-to-work sick plan” that would force public servants to choose between showing up on the job sick or losing pay.

She argued the big concern about fewer sick days – combined with a waiting period – is that public servants could end up going to work ill and making their colleagues sick rather than staying at home, because they have run out of sick days.

“The bottom line in my humble opinion is this [means] ‘go-to-work-sick’ and that will be the reality,” said Benson. “This government is telling their employees you have sick leave in your collective agreements and we are going to take it and you can go to work sick, be less productive and make everyone else sick and if you don’t go to work, then by God, you won’t be able to feed your children.”

Benson said the government also expects public servants who borrow sick-leave credits because they don’t have enough banked leave when they fall ill to repay that advance later.

Under the existing contract, public servants can bank unused leave and roll it over year-to-year; bureaucrats have socked away thousands of hours over the years. The five days of sick leave the government is now proposing cannot be accumulated and carried over. Any unused days will disappear at the end of the year.

The government calls for an unpaid, seven “calendar day” waiting period which kicks in after public servants use all their allotted sick leave. After the waiting period, employees would be eligible to apply for short-term disability which pays benefits for up to 26 weeks.

Under the proposal, if they qualify for short-term disability, public servants can collect full pay for four weeks. Pay drops to 70% for the remainder of the 26 weeks.

Employees who are still unable to return to work after 130 days on short-term disability will then go on long-term disability.

With the government’s demands tabled, the pressure is on at the bargaining table. The government wants the new short-term disability plan up and running by September, 2016.

Collective bargaining has been underway for months as union and Treasury Board negotiators traded demands but the government hadn’t reveal its position on sick leave, its top priority in this round of bargaining, until now.

PSAC is the first union to receive the proposal and Benson said she will meet with leaders of the other 16 unions to update them and discuss next steps in bargaining.

Although the various unions negotiate with the government separately from each other, the unions have signed a “solidarity” pact to present a common front on sick leave.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement has so far shown no openness to the union’s position that the existing system should be fixed rather than scrapped and replaced with a new short-term disability plan.

He originally said he was open to their input and the main reason for the government’s delay in unveiling its position was unions’ refusal to participate in “informal” discussions – which were to be held outside the collective bargaining process – to confer on the broad shape of the new short-term and long-term disability plans that will replace the existing banked sick-leave regime.

Clement said once the unions “categorically’ rejected his offer for discussions, Treasury Board was forced ”back to the drawing board’’ to draft its own proposal without their input.

An investigation by the official languages commissioner into Foreign Minister John Baird’s use of Twitter has some politicians chirping with frustration, including tweeting machine minister Tony Clement, who vows to quit Twitter if he’s ever strong-armed by the commissioner.

The investigation into a public complaint that Baird, in his role as Foreign Affairs minister, tweets far more in English on government business than he does in French, has raised questions about the line between government communication and personal use of the Twittersphere.

Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser is trying to determine whether cabinet ministers, on their personal Twitter accounts, have responsibilities under Canada’s language laws when tweeting on government business or posting information for their departments. The outcome of the investigation could put a chill on federal ministers’ use of social media and erode the spontaneity of communicating directly, in real time, with the public.

“I think it’s a ridiculous waste of time,” Clement, the president of the federal Treasury Board, told Postmedia News Friday in a direct message on Twitter.

“I sometimes tweet in French, much in English. If he [Fraser] proposes to overlord me, I will quit Twitter…”

The Official Languages Act applies to government departments as institutions — not to individual MPs, said Nelson Kalil, a spokesman in the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. Any tweets by a minister that are clearly personal in nature or are made in their role as an individual MP for their riding do not fall under the languages act.

“It’s trying to make that determination — what is a ministerial tweet versus a personal tweet,” Kalil said. “It’s where to draw the line … how do we go about ensuring those important messages that are important and ministerial in nature are provided in both official languages.”

In an era when each lowly, dry, Government of Canada tweet is beaten into pointlessness by a 12-step approval process, few federal cabinet ministers are willing to let even a sliver of personality shine through on social media. There are several, notable exceptions: some ministers seem far more willing to let personal foibles and passions leak online. And their profiles have both blossomed, and suffered for the quirk. The Post‘s Jen Gerson surveys four minister’s Twitter feeds:

OTTAWA — It costs taxpayers almost nothing extra to pay sick leave to federal civil servants, says a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The findings are likely to be used as ammunition by public sector unions in their battle with the Treasury Board over proposed changes to government sick-leave policies.

The report shows wide variances in the amount of sick leave taken from one department to another.

But parliamentary budget officer Jean-Denis Frechette says most departments don’t have policies in place to backfill for sick leave.

“Since most departments do not call in replacements when an employee takes a sick day, there are no incremental costs,” said the report released Wednesday.

Exceptions to that finding include departments where absences have a direct impact on service levels, health and safety.

Correctional Service Canada, for example, is required to maintain minimum staffing levels for the protection of the public, staff and inmates at federal prisons.

But in most cases, the report said, federal employees who call in sick are not replaced, resulting in no additional cost to taxpayers over and above regular public servant salaries.

Collective bargaining is currently underway between Treasury Board and 17 federal unions, with the government pushing for restructuring of benefits to reduce costs.

The governing Conservatives hope to cut the cost of public service pension, disability and sick leave benefits as part of efforts to balance the federal budget by next year.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement has said sick-leave costs are unsustainable and that the system needs to be revamped. The unions have complained that Clement used inflated figures to justify proposed cuts.

Public servants are allowed 15 days of paid annual sick leave. And, on average, they take 11.5 days off due to illness, says the PBO.

But unlike most private-sector firms, where annual sick leave is granted on a ’use-it-or-lose-it’, basis, federal workers can carry over their annual allotment from year to year.

In some cases that has resulted in civil servants being owed several days or weeks of paid time when they leave their jobs.

The report found that sick leave can range from a low of 0.16% of total departmental spending to 2.74% on the other end of the scale.

The numbers are based on expenditures in the 2011-12 fiscal year.

The report also found that, in most cases, paid sick leave is proportional to departmental spending on regular wages.

“In other words, the more a department spends on wages, the more it spends on sick leave,” the report said.

Since most departments do not call in replacements when an employee takes a sick day, there are no incremental costs

In February the office published a report that estimated time lost due to illness in the federal civil service amounted to the equivalent of $871 million in regular wages in the 2011-12 period.

The latest report was compiled after a request from New Democrat MP Paul Dewar and looked at data from 20 departments.

It found that Correctional Service Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency consistently reported the highest average number of paid sick days per employee.

All three departments have minimum staffing level requirements to maintain operations.

In some cases, however, data was either incomplete or departments failed to provide numbers, said the report.

The border agency also noted that it does not track the cost of filling positions left vacant due to employee illness.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/16/budget-office-report-finds-federal-civil-service-sick-leave-costs-almost-nothing/feed/3stdA public works sign is displayed on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, June 10, 2013. The federal government wants to revamp its sick leave and disability policies for the public service in an effort to reduce high levels of absenteeism.Tony Clement says all 17 federal unions have rejected his ‘olive branch’ as tense collective bargaining ramps uphttp://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/09/tony-clement-says-all-17-federal-unions-have-rejected-his-olive-branch-as-tense-collective-bargaining-ramps-up/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/09/tony-clement-says-all-17-federal-unions-have-rejected-his-olive-branch-as-tense-collective-bargaining-ramps-up/#commentsWed, 09 Jul 2014 17:12:58 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=489743

Treasury Board President Tony Clement said federal unions spurned the “olive branch” he extended by inviting them to take part in discussions on a new short-term disability plan that will replace banked sick leave in Canada’s public service.

Clement said he was disappointed all 17 federal unions refused to have any part in the consultations Treasury Board is having to discuss the framework of a proposed short-term disability plan for Canada’s public servants before the two sides hammer out the details at the bargaining table.

“The purpose … was to have the bargaining agents on the ground floor of any new bargained plan so they could work with us on some of the details and have their input on the framing of this plan,” said Clement in an interview.

I actually thought I was extending the olive branch

“I actually thought I was extending the olive branch and I was being reasonable in giving them that kind of input. They have spurned the offer.”

The unions’ outright rejection of any participation in these separate consultations has cranked up the tension early in this round of collective bargaining, which is slowly winding into gear. Treasury Board negotiators have been meeting quietly with unions as their contracts expire but the biggest player, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, is having its first meetings with the government this week.

Clement said the “door is always open and ajar” if the unions change their mind and want to sit in on the consultations to provide their input on the shape of a new short-term disability plan that the government is committed to introducing.

“The operators are standing by … I would love to have that kind of conversation with them,” he said.

But the unions argue the consultations are usurping collective bargaining because such massive changes to the management of sick leave should be worked out at the bargaining table and not presented as a fait accompli with only details, such as the number of annual sick days, to be haggled over.

The unions argue a short-term disability plan is unnecessary. They acknowledge the existing accumulated sick leave system has problems but believe it can be fixed without replacing it with a new scheme.

Clement indicated any discussion over whether a new plan is necessary is not in the cards.

“I think it (short-term disability) is a better way to do things,” he said. “We have a current system that has been around for several decades, which no longer reflects the needs of employees and no longer protects the interests of taxpayers, so I believe we can come up with a better system that will in fact be there for employees when they need it.”

Unions argue the government has already decided how the plan will work. Treasury Board negotiators have sketched an approach to some unions that would reduce the number of paid sick days public servants get and introduce a waiting period that some say would encourage employees to go to work ill rather than not get paid.

The model being proposed calls for an unpaid seven-day waiting period that kicks in after public servants use all their allotted sick leave. After the waiting period, employees would go on short-term disability and collect 100 per cent of pay for 25 days. Pay drops to 70 per cent for the next 105 days.

Employees who are still unwell and can’t return to work after 130 days on short-term disability will then go on long-term disability.

I believe we can come up with a better system that will in fact be there for employees when they need it

Under this plan, the number of paid sick days public servants get will be a contentious issue. The government clearly wants to reduce the 15 days public servants now get every year and have pointed to the five days private sector employees get.

But negotiators have so far been silent on what the government has in mind for $5.2 billion worth of unused sick leave public servants have banked over the years. Public servants can bank their sick leave but they can’t cash out when they leave or retire.

The government doesn’t want any further accumulation of unused sick leave but many argue the $5.2 billion bank could be a powerful bargaining chip in negotiations.

The government could kill unused sick leave credits or it could compromise and offer to carry some over as top-ups to be used to help employees who have used all their sick days or top up the 70-per-cent salary they collect on short-term disability.

Clement wouldn’t comment on plans for banked leave but suggested some could be used to help manage the transition between the existing and new plans.

“That’s getting into details of my negotiation strategy. All I can say, is I intend to be fair and reasonable in my proposals. I understand there would be a transition for some period of time and that is as far as I will say in this interview.”

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/09/tony-clement-says-all-17-federal-unions-have-rejected-his-olive-branch-as-tense-collective-bargaining-ramps-up/feed/2stdTony ClementFederal unions refuse to take part in consultations about Ottawa’s ‘unethical’ plan to get rid of banked sick dayshttp://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/07/federal-unions-refuse-to-take-part-in-consultations-about-ottawas-unethical-plan-to-get-rid-of-banked-sick-days/
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All 17 federal unions have refused to have any part in “consultations” about the Conservatives’ proposed short-term disability plan, saying such a massive overhaul in managing public servants’ sick leave should be hammered out at the bargaining table.

The unions formally declined Treasury Board’s offer to take part in a series of discussions about the new short-term disability plan that’s at the heart of the government’s “wellness and productivity” strategy to reduce sick leave in the public service by getting employees better and back to work faster.

The unions argue the consultations show the government is bent on introducing a new short-term disability plan to replace the existing accumulated sick leave system and has no intention of negotiating the plan in upcoming contract talks, leaving only details to be sorted out, such as the number of annual sick days public servants will be entitled to.

Sick leave is the big issue in this round of bargaining that has been slowly grinding into gear over the past several months. This week, the giant Public Service Alliance of Canada has its first meeting with Treasury Board negotiators for about 100,000 of the employees it represents.

As lawmaker, the government can introduce a short-term disability plan but has to negotiate the terms and conditions of sick leave, which are enshrined in the contracts of all public servants.

They want but have to give the impression that they consulted with us for appearances only

The unions want the government’s short-term disability plan to be brought to the bargaining table to be negotiated during contract talks and not introduced as a fait accompli with only details to be worked out.

“To be honest, they [the government] know exactly what they want but have to give the impression that they consulted with us for appearances only,” said Claude Poirier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees.

“We believe we can fix the problems they have identified in a cheaper way than changing everything and replacing it with a more expensive system.”

Treasury Board President Tony Clement claims he’s open to negotiate ways to better manage ill and injured public servants but they would have to fit with his “commitment” to a new short-term disability plan. The government announced the overhaul as a priority in the last budget.

“Our government is committed to introducing short- and long-term disability plans that will help public servants get healthy and get back to work,” he said in an email. “We will work with the bargaining agents to find ways to reduce the incidence and duration of disability in the public service and to improve workplace wellness. “

The unions are in a tough spot. The Conservatives introduced sweeping new rules for this round of bargaining that will strengthen the government’s hand at the table while diminishing the unions’ bargaining clout.

Despite the changes, the unions argue the government is still obliged to bargain in good faith and that approaching sick leave reform with a “predetermined outcome” could be tantamount to flouting those rights.

The unions participated in the disability management initiative that Treasury Board launched several years ago to get a handle on the problems with the system. The unions acknowledged there were weaknesses but have maintained those gaps can be fixed without scrapping the existing regime and introducing a new scheme.

Public servants now accumulate 15 days of sick leave annually that they can carry over from year to year. Banked sick leave is estimated at about $5.2 billion. Public servants typically aim to bank 13 weeks of sick leave in case they fall ill to cover the waiting period before they can go on long-term disability.

Debi Daviau, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said a new short-term disability plan that affects the terms and working conditions of employees should be negotiated and not “worked out in some backroom with you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours kind of dealings.”

“We can’t take something like this out of the hands of our members and say this is a leadership decision and negotiate outside the collective agreement and then turn around and pay lip service at the bargaining table. That is unethical.”

Daviau said taking part in consultations could be construed as accepting the new plan. Also, engaging in consultations could pose a legal dilemma in the event of an impasse if the government can successfully argue those discussions satisfied its legal obligation to consult with unions.

She said unions want to see the business plan, data and evidence of why a new plan is justified and that should be done at the bargaining table.

“Let’s talk about what the real problems are and then be in a position to solve them in a way fair to taxpayers and employees at the same time. They have reversed this by wanting to decide outside the negotiating table and circumvent the established process afforded by the law.”

OTTAWA — Treasury Board president Tony Clement jumped into the Ontario election fray Thursday, calling for Premier Kathleen Wynne’s defeat and a government run by his former provincial cabinet colleague Tim Hudak.

Goaded by Wynne’s swipe at the federal Conservatives, Clement accused the Ontario Liberal leader of strategically attacking his government to deflect attention from the party’s “disastrous record.”

“Every day, Kathleen Wynne has gone out of her way to attack the federal government’s policies, now attacking Stephen Harper personally,” he said. “I have a right, as an Ontario citizen and taxpayer, to express my opinion.”

Wynne launched another salvo towards the prime minister at a campaign stop in Ottawa, saying Harper is ignoring the needs of Canada’s most populous province and casting Hudak — her Progressive Conservative rival — as a toady who won’t stand up for Ontario.

During a breakfast speech just a short distance from Parliament Hill, Wynne repeated her long-standing complaint that Ontario is being shortchanged, putting $11 billion more into federal coffers than it gets back. Harper’s tone-deaf attitude is jeopardizing Ontario’s fragile economic recovery, she said.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars HagbergOntario Premier Kathleen Wynne, second left, local candidate Sophie Kiwala and the CEO of Transformix Engineering, second right, during a campaign stop at Transformix in Kingston, Ont., on Friday.

“Right now, we have a federal government that actually is doing more to hurt that recovery than to help,” Wynne said.

“This year Ontario is going to receive $641 million less in major transfers from the federal government, and this is at a time when we can least afford the hit.”

Harper has also been silent on her challenge to match her party’s promise of $1 billion to build a transportation route to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, she said. The Conservatives have done more for the oil and gas industry than they have to help develop the massive but remote chromite deposit, which would create jobs in the hard-hit region and benefit struggling First Nations communities.

Wynne’s jabs at Harper have become a common occurrence in the first week of the campaign, but date back to her rallying cry during a March 22 party convention where she called his antipathy towards pension reform “offensive and inexplicable.”

Her government proposed a mandatory made-in-Ontario pension plan after the federal Tories spurned their advances to enhance the Canada Pension Plan, saying it would be harmful to increase contributions from workers and employers until the economy gathers steam.

Harper panned the proposal last week, saying people prefer tax breaks as a reward for saving for retirement, rather than having their taxes hiked to force them to save.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteOntario PC leader Tim Hudak, right, at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 147 during a campaign stop in Barrie, Ont., on Friday.

Wynne argues people aren’t able to save for retirement and the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan wouldn’t harm the economy because it would be phased in gradually starting in 2017.

She said she’s not surprised the federal Tories are “attacking” because they don’t share her government’s values.

“We know [Harper] doesn’t like it because Tony Clement was sent out to attack today,” she told the crowd at an evening rally in Kingston, Ont.

They are taking the same positions on these issues of real importance to the people of Ontario

“Not a surprise that Tony Clement and Tim Hudak would be on the same page, is it? Not a surprise at all.”

Clement called the pension plan a “huge tax grab.”

“I personally want the election of Tim Hudak as premier of Ontario,” he said. “I personally do. But we’ll work with anybody who forms a government, of course, in the national interest and in the provincial interest.”

Robert Drummond, political science professor emeritus at Toronto’s York University, said Clement’s intervention in the Ontario campaign is “unusual.”

“It has not been the norm in the recent past that federal ministers have intervened so publicly in speaking about the campaign provincially,” he said.

Clement might be trying to give the Tories’ electoral chances a boost or he might even be positioning himself to take over leadership of the provincial party should Hudak fail in this campaign, Drummond said.

Hudak once rubbed shoulders with federal heavyweights like Clement and John Baird — now minister of foreign affairs — at former premier Mike Harris’ cabinet table. Wynne has exploited those ties on the campaign trail, suggesting her rival is too much of a yes man to fight for Ontario.

Not a surprise that Tony Clement and Tim Hudak would be on the same page, is it? Not a surprise at all

“They’re playing on the same team,” she said in Ottawa. “They are taking the same positions on these issues of real importance to the people of Ontario.”

The Liberals want to change the channel from the spending scandals that have dominated the headlines in recent months, including the police investigation into the deletion of documents related to the cancellation of two unpopular gas plants, which could cost up to $1.1 billion, Hudak said.

“I understand why she’s doing this, she’s trying to deflect attention from her own record like the gas plants, the loss of jobs and the fact that Ontario now is near the back of the pack when it comes to job creation,” he said in Vaughan, north of Toronto.

“I want to see an Ontario that’s strong, that’s moving forward, that’s creating jobs, not on our knees begging for more money.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Wynne’s ongoing feud with Harper is out of sync with what voters really care about.

“Whatever happened to the mediator premier that we used to see when she first became the leader of her party?” she said at a campaign stop in Niagara Falls.

“I think the people of Ontario would rather the debate be about that we need good jobs in this province.”

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/09/federal-tories-fire-back-at-wynne-clement-attacks-ontario-liberals-disastrous-record-calls-for-partys-defeat/feed/1stdTreasury Board President Tony Clement in the House of Commons in Ottawa Wednesday.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars HagbergTHE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteTony Clement says he won’t target public service pensions in negotiations with unionhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/05/tony-clement-says-he-wont-target-public-service-pensions-in-negotiations-with-union/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/05/tony-clement-says-he-wont-target-public-service-pensions-in-negotiations-with-union/#commentsMon, 05 May 2014 19:31:25 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=462212

OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Tony Clement has assured federal unions that changes to the public service pension plan won’t be up for discussion as the two sides prepare to face off at the bargaining table over replacing the existing sick-leave regime.

Clement said he spoke with Robyn Benson, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the largest of the 17 unions, to reinforce that his top priorities for the upcoming round of bargaining were revamping sick leave and reducing absenteeism. He said pension reform was not on his radar in this round of talks.

“Changing current defined benefit pension plans available to the core public service (is) not the subject of the current round of bargaining,” Clement said.

“As I have stated frequently, reducing absenteeism and fixing the current sick pay system is the focus. I have shared this perspective with PSAC head Robyn Benson.”

Some union officials were worried when Minister of State for Finance Kevin Sorenson put pension reform on the agenda by proposing “target benefit” pensions for Crown corporations and federally regulated industries, though the core public service was specifically excluded from the proposal.

The concern was that shifting Crown corporations and other federally regulated business to target benefit plans could open the door to doing the same for public service plans, especially in light of Clement’s repeated vow to bring public service pay and benefits in line with the private sector.

That vow was reinforced at the Conservatives’ last party convention, when members adopted a resolution to make public sector pensions and benefits comparable to the private sector. Some predict the Conservatives may not make reforming public service pensions an issue now but rather exploit it in the 2015 election campaign as part of a broader drive to rein in the cost and size of government.

The government has been pressured by various groups, including the C.D. Howe Institute, to consider a target benefit pension plan and to deal with public sector accounting methods that they believe have masked the government’s true debt, deficit and compensation costs for public servants.

It’s most recent report, focused on compensation, arguing that the government may be overpaying public servants compared to the private sector because it is lowballing the costs of guaranteeing its employees the fixed pensions they’re promised for the future.

The government has three major defined benefit plans for public servants, the RCMP and military. Critics argue these are underfunded and unaffordable over the long term.

Ottawa’s determination to reduce the perks and benefits enjoyed by its 260,000 employees doesn’t make for pleasant viewing, but represents what seems to be an inevitable balancing of forces.

One way or another, it was going to happen. Organized labour began life at the bottom of the well and carried out a prolonged campaign to win better pay and conditions for exploited workers. For a time, public employees trailed those in the private sector, but over the past several decades have steadily narrowed the gap. When middle class fortunes began to stagnate, the public sector caught up and, eventually, passed it in terms of security and benefits. Now that’s levelling out again.

It’s an ugly process, yes. In Ottawa, Treasury Board president Tony Clement has been chip-chip-chipping away at civil service benefits since taking on the job in 2011. The Conservatives have increased the retirement age, raised pension plan contributions, cut 19,000 jobs, introduced performance reviews, ended severance benefits for voluntary departures and are in the process of revamping “sick day” benefits to end the practice of banking sick days.

In Tuesday’s budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also detailed plans to toughen eligibility requirements for retiree health benefits, while doubling the premiums members must pay. Public servants will also move down the priority list for job openings, to be replaced at the top by veterans on medical leave.

If you see people wandering around Ottawa looking like they’ve just been used as a punching bag, you’re probably looking at a civil servant. What did they ever do to deserve this, other than apply, and be accepted, for a job with the government?

Nothing, really. The problem is with the interplay between employers and unions. In the private sector, unions initially gained ground because they had enough public support. People realized the balance of power was unfair and understood the need for change. Attitudes began to shift when powerful unions took advantage of their position to demand too much, inconvenienced too many innocent bystanders, and blew their public sympathy.

Public sector unions made the same mistake. The postal service is still paying the price for toxic public relations forged when the mail was the prime method of written communication, and regular strikes were called over ridiculous demands. Years of compliant Liberal governments saw benefit piled on benefit, at costs that could never be sustained. In typical baby boomer fashion, immediate gains were favoured over long-term planning; the next generation could worry about the future when it came.

So now it’s arrived, just as the boomers are retiring (boomers have always been good at looking after themselves). Few of the changes introduced so far are unjustified. The practice of banking sick days can be defended only if there is no other means of dealing with illness, but Mr. Clement’s proposal for a combination of short- and long-term sick leave makes perfect sense. There’s no reason public servants should pay only a minority share of their health or retirement benefits while everyone else pays more, especially when they’re among the few fortunate enough to still have decent pension plans. The old severance rules were a scam, pure and simple, and deserved to die. A little-known “bridge benefit” for early retirees is of a similar ilk. And while chopping jobs is ugly, find a private sector worker who hasn’t faced that prospect.

You don’t see Justin Trudeau pledging to restore the perks or reintroduce lost sick days.

It’s easy to accuse the Conservatives of heartlessness for making life more miserable for bureaucrats, but efforts to get costs and wages under control is hardly a Tory creation. The civil service is considerably bigger today than when Mr. Harper became prime minister, it just isn’t quite as well-fed. Paul Martin slashed away with far more vigor over a much shorter period when, as Liberal finance minister, he struggled to eliminate an earlier deficit. Liberals hailed him as a genius and an economic saviour, and squeezed out Jean Chretien so they could make him party leader. Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty imposed a freeze on public salaries after years of increasing them when he realized it just couldn’t go on. Even Jacques Parizeau, who came closest to making Quebec an independent state, is worried that Quebec’s heavy-handed government tendencies are sapping the economy.

Liberals and New Democrats may decry the pain inflicted by Mr. Clement, but you don’t see Justin Trudeau pledging to restore the perks or reintroduce lost sick days. Like Brian Mulroney’s introduction of the GST (which will produce $31 billion in revenue this year), public service reform is something that’s easy to criticize, but pays long-term economic gains. The next prime minister will be quietly grateful that this prime minister, and Mr. Clement, undertook the challenge.

OTTAWA – Three suspended senators may find themselves unable to retire with a pension in less than a year if new rules proposed in the budget are enacted before 2015.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement said Wednesday the government’s intention is to cut off suspended senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau from accruing pensionable service, and do it as soon as possible.

All three require at least six years of service before being eligible for their parliamentary pensions, a target they will hit in January 2015. As it stands, all three suspended senators continue to build towards those six years, despite being stripped of all but their titles late last year over their questionable expense claims.

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Currently, if the trio retired in January 2015, they would each be eligible for annual payments of about $24,000 until age 90, according to calculations from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Their suspensions could be lifted in late 2015.

Clement told reporters on Parliament Hill it was his intention to suspend the six-year time period for pension eligibility the moment the proposed legislation becomes law.

“Legally, we can’t take away benefits that have already accrued, but anybody in the position where they have been suspended from Parliament on a go-forward basis, including the current suspendees, if you will, they will be affected,” Clement told reporters on Parliament Hill. “We checked with legal on this.”

On Tuesday, the government announced in the budget that it would close a legislative loophole that allows any senator or MP suspended by a majority vote from continuing to build pensionable service.

The government was in the position of having to rework the law after the Senate voted to suspend Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau without pay, but leave them their health benefits. Conservatives in the Commons and Senate were surprised to learn the trio continued their march towards pension eligibility.

To make the change, the government will have to add wording to the legislation overseeing parliamentary pensions. That act, unlike the one overseeing how much parliamentarians earn, doesn’t have a provision to stop payments if a senator or MP is suspended.“It’s my intention to pursue this as soon as possible,” Clement said. ”I’d like to have this done the day after tomorrow, but that’s not very likely so we’ll wait for the process. This will have to be debated and discussed by parliamentarians.”

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/12/duffy-wallin-and-brazeau-will-be-cut-off-from-accruing-parliamentary-pension-time-and-soon-clement-says/feed/1stdTreasury Board President Tony Clement said Wednesday the government’s intention is to cut off suspended senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau from accruing pensionable service, and do it as soon as possibleNA0212_Expenses_Pie_C_MFJohn Ivison: Harper government on the cusp of 'pivotal' free trade deal with South Koreahttp://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/11/canada-on-the-cusp-of-pivotal-free-trade-deal-with-south-korea/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/11/canada-on-the-cusp-of-pivotal-free-trade-deal-with-south-korea/#commentsTue, 11 Feb 2014 12:00:21 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=144233

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will unveil his 10th budget Tuesday, but the Harper government’s biggest piece of economic news likely won’t be in it: Canada is on the cusp of a free trade deal with South Korea after nine years of negotiations.

A deal with Canada’s seventh biggest trading partner has been a long time coming. Talks were launched in 2005 but were stalled for four years, in part due to the resistance of auto unions in this country, who claimed a deal would result in a growing trade imbalance and job losses.

However, the need for Canada to grow its export markets in Asia has outweighed concerns about one sector.

John Manley, the president of the Council of Chief Executives (which has Ford Motor Company as a member) has called the deal “pivotal” for Canada.

“It represents a watershed in our country’s efforts to build closer ties with the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.

In 2012, the two-way trade relationship was worth $10.1-billion, with Canada exporting $3.7-billion of merchandise and importing $6.4-billon of South Korean goods.

Tuesday’s budget could address the deal implicitly: Ottawa may pacify one of the Big Three auto-makers by signaling in the budget its willingness to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Chrysler’s $2-billion upgrade of the Windsor Assembly plant that builds the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan.

Another budget item that Mr. Flaherty may dangle as a potential benefit to Canadians down the road is a multi-pronged assault on the price gap that sees identical goods sold at higher prices in Canada than in the United States.

The budget is likely to include tougher rules that will enable the Competition Bureau to combat “country pricing” — the practice of maximizing profits by selling products at different prices in different markets.
In an interview with CBC News, Mr. Flaherty said the price gap is a priority that’s “dealt with in the budget.”

Last year’s budget included tariff relief on baby clothing and sports equipment. An internal document obtained by the National Post in September suggested the government would extend relief to other sectors if the measures already introduced lowered retail prices — something the Retail Council of Canada said is happening in a study released last week.

This is likely to be a regular-sized budget — something the opposition parties have called for after a couple of whopping omnibus bills – with more subtractions than additions.

Expenditure restraint is set to be a more dominant characteristic than new spending, with the freeze on the federal operating budget set to do much of the heavy lifting in the quest for budgetary surplus. Any wage increases will have to be contained within current spending budgets, which means the federal public service unions best not expect a bumper pay hikes in their current collective bargaining negotiations. Other savings may be forthcoming from Treasury Board president Tony Clement’s crusade to end the banking of sick days. In the fall fiscal update, the government said it expected savings of $550-million next year and $1.1-billion in 2015/16 from the freeze.

There may also be mention made of an end — or at least a scaling back — of the accelerated capital cost allowance that allows companies to write off the cost of machinery against taxable income more quickly. Proponents argue it has been a success in encouraging companies to invest in machinery, but it costs the government $700-million a year in foregone revenue.

Any new spending this year will likely be modest in scope. Media reports have suggested moves to improve or extend high-speed internet access in rural and remote areas; spending on skills training to tackle youth unemployment; and, money for major infrastructure projects like the Detroit-Windsor crossing. The $1.9-billion for aboriginal education, announced by the Prime Minister last week, will warrant a mention but that money is not scheduled to flow until after the 2015 election.

Even without a noticeable uptick in revenues, the Conservatives could declare victory in the fall fiscal update, thanks to asset sales in the coming year. Ottawa’s ongoing radio frequency spectrum auction is expected to yield up to $2.5-billion, while the government still holds shares in General Motors worth nearly $3-billion. The last fiscal update anticipated revenues from asset sales of just $2-billion over the next two years, so depending on when those gains are realized, there is the prospect of a windfall.

In fact, RBC Economics is forecasting a fiscal dividend of $36-billion over the next four years from 2015, opening the door for tax cuts and spending increases.

Nothing Mr. Flaherty does Tuesday is destined to risk that rosy prospect. The message the Finance Minister will send is that this a “light at the end of the tunnel” budget. But the light at the end of that tunnel will be turned off on weekends until the day when the Canadian economy emerges into the sunlight of budgetary balance.

Treasury Board Minister Tony Clement says changes he has in mind for changing sick leave policy for public servants would tackle shortcomings with the outdated current setup such as addressing long term health issues like mental illness.

Clement said he’s proposing a format that would include five to seven sick days a year, a short term disability leave of a week to six months and long term leave for more than six months. The changes would also eliminate bankable sick days, he said.

Speaking at a provincial Progressive Conservative conference in Nova Scotia, Clement said the proposed changes are fair and would do more to address things like mental illness than the current system does.

“(The) 40-year-old sick leave system we have now really does not appropriately highlight some of the other factors that are now acknowledged, like mental health issues… whereas 40 years ago they might have been stigmatized,” said Clement in an interview, adding that mental illness currently accounts for nearly half of all sick leave.

Clement said the average public servant retires with 111 banked sick days. But some younger or new public employees do not have enough accumulated sick days to deal with a catastrophic illness, he said.

“We have employees who run out of their sick days and then have to go on [employment insurance] to help pay the bills,” Clement told the crowd of Tories at a Halifax hotel. “I don’t think that’s a good system for them, in fact, I think it’s an immoral system.”

The changes will be discussed over the next year as part of negotiations with 17 public sector unions, said Clement.

One of those unions, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, accused Clement of having plans to contract out sick leave policy.

“When the Minister refers to a short-term disability plan, he means contracting out the management of the sick leave system to a third-party administrator; where caseloads are managed for profit, pushing employees back to work as quickly as possible,” said PSAC president Robyn Benson in an email Saturday.

Earlier this week, the parliamentary budget office said public servants take an average of 11.5 paid sick days a year, compared with 18 days reported by Clement.

The report said Clement’s number includes time missed due to workplace injuries and unpaid sick leave.

It estimated the salary paid for sick days amounted to $871 million in 2011-12, about 68% higher than the estimate 10 years prior, which includes inflation.

But the report said growth in the size of the public service, wages and number of paid sick days available all contributed to the doubling of sick-leave costs in the last decade and the use of sick leave between departments varies significantly.

The governing Conservatives, who are tabling a budget next week, say they are taking aim at the public service in their efforts to balance the books in 2015.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/09/tony-clement-wants-to-eliminate-bankable-sick-days-for-public-servants-in-effort-to-fix-outdated-policy/feed/3stdTony Clement responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Monday November 18, 2013. The federal budget watchdog says public servants take an average of 11.5 paid sick days a year, compared with 18 days reported by Treasury Board PresidentJohn Ivison: Tony Clement won ‘sick days’ skirmish, but decisive battle with unions still to comehttp://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/06/john-ivison-tony-clement-won-sick-days-skirmish-but-decisive-battle-with-unions-still-to-come/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/06/john-ivison-tony-clement-won-sick-days-skirmish-but-decisive-battle-with-unions-still-to-come/#commentsThu, 06 Feb 2014 23:49:02 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=143991

The NDP and their union bedfellows were exultant. A report by the Parliamentary Budget Office on Thursday had “exposed” Tony Clement’s attacks against public service employees.

The study into the cost and frequency of sick days in the public service appeared to undermine the Treasury Board president’s assertion that malingering bureaucrats claim 18.2 days of sick leave every year.

“Mr. Clement inflated the numbers by over 50%,” said Paul Dewar, the Ottawa NDP MP. “He faced Canadians and simply did not tell us the truth.”

The NDP release went on to contend there is no significant difference between paid sick leave in the public and private sectors. “The PBO found that public service workers took an average of 11.52 paid sick days per year, significantly less than the figure quoted by Mr. Clement.”

Far from being crestfallen, the minister was in pugnacious mood. “I was pleased to see the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report validates our conclusions on public sector absenteeism. The report confirms that between paid and unpaid leave, federal government employees are absent an average of 18.2 days per year [11.5 days were paid], proving the current 40 year old system is broken and in need of modernization.”

The dispute sounds like politicians having fun with numbers. But it is deadly serious and at the heart of the looming war between the public sector and the Conservative government.

Mr. Clement is determined to end the current practice of indefinite banking of unused sick days that sees the average public servant retire with 111 days of banked sick leave.

He is set on terminating with extreme prejudice an antiquated perk that does not exist in the private sector and replace it with a short-term disability program.

The pertinent statistic in the PBO report is not the 18.2 days or 11.5 days of leave. It’s the $871-million the government spends every year so that 19,000 public servants can stay home on any given day.

That’s top level satire right there. We’re in Yes Minister territory

Mr. Clement believes both those numbers are too high and is determined they will come down. “Absenteeism is unacceptably high,” he said in an interview. “The biggest factor is unionization and the psychological entitlement mindset that goes with it.

“I’d like to reduce that number and have a healthier workforce that gets back to work sooner.”

The facts are with him, rather than his NDP and union adversaries.

The NDP release claims that the report shows there is “no significant difference between paid sick leave in the public and private sectors.”

In fact, it does no such thing. The report does not offer any original data comparing the public and private sectors. It does, however, cite a Statistics Canada survey from 2012 that suggests public sector employees were absent for 12.4 days that year, compared to 8.3 days in the private sector. That seems to me to be a pretty significant difference.

The PBO survey also offered evidence that salary paid for sick leave has grown 68% in the last decade. One third of that rise was because of an increase in the number of paid sick days.

In one of the more puzzling statements to emanate from anyone in public life, the Public Service Alliance of Canada said that there are no costs incurred by this level of absenteeism. “At best, it’s a measure of lost productivity, representing the value of work that didn’t get done,” the union says.

That’s top level satire right there. We’re in Yes Minister territory – akin to suggesting a civil service strike would bring government to a standstill, were it not for the fact that it already is.

Clement is Batman to their Joker — each needs the other to justify their existence

Mr. Clement knows that most voters, even potential NDP voters, don’t support the taxpayer subsidizing perks that are not available to the majority of Canadians in the private sector.

A study by the CD Howe Institute late last month said Ottawa’s average cost of employing a full-time worker, including wages and benefits, doubled between 2002/03 and 2012/13 from $66,500 to $127,400. Over the same period, business sector compensation per job in Canada rose only about one third, from about $38,600 to $52,100.

The Conservatives believe public sympathy for such disparities has worn thin and they are prepared to push the unions to the brink.

PSAC has already walked away from the bargaining table over Mr. Clement’s hardline position on sick leave. In this calendar year, he is set to re-negotiate 27 agreements with 17 different bargaining agents.

He characterized those talks as being “at loggerheads.”

The collective bargaining process will be wrapped up this year, to the chagrin of the unions that wanted to stretch it into 2015, an election year.

There’s an almost comic book element to the ideological tussle being waged between the Treasury Board president and the unions. He is Batman to their Joker — each needs the other to justify their existence.

This was just a skirmish, but before long they will face off in a more decisive battle, and this time only one will be able to emerge claiming victory.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/06/john-ivison-tony-clement-won-sick-days-skirmish-but-decisive-battle-with-unions-still-to-come/feed/0stdTony-ClementBudget watchdog says sick leave costs are jumping, public servants take an average of 11.5 paid sick days a yearhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/06/budget-watchdog-says-sick-leave-costs-are-jumping-public-servants-take-an-average-of-11-5-paid-sick-days-a-year/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/06/budget-watchdog-says-sick-leave-costs-are-jumping-public-servants-take-an-average-of-11-5-paid-sick-days-a-year/#commentsThu, 06 Feb 2014 17:11:11 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=424286

OTTAWA — The federal budget watchdog says public servants take an average of 11.5 paid sick days a year, but that the number isn’t as high as the 18 paid sick days suggested by Treasury Board President Tony Clement.

The parliamentary budget office says in a new report that Clement’s number includes time missed due to workplace injuries and unpaid sick leave.

It estimates the salary paid for sick days amounted to $871-million in 2011-12, about 68 per cent higher than the estimate 10 years prior, which includes inflation.

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But it says growth in the size of the public service, wages and number of paid sick days available all contributed to the doubling of sick-leave costs in the last decade and the use of sick leave between departments varies significantly.

The report comes as Clement prepares for a battle with public-sector unions in his quest for budget savings.

The governing Conservatives, who are tabling a budget next week, are taking aim at public service salaries, pensions and sick leave in their efforts to balance the books in 2015.

NDP MP Paul Dewar requested the report, according to the Ottawa Citizen, “after a major numbers war erupted between the government and unions, who argued the 18.2 average was inflated and misrepresented the use of paid sick leave benefits.”

Consequently, the number of sick days reported by the government is to some extent inflated by those on disability leave

The PBO report notes that data collected by government departments and provided to them by the Treasury Board doesn’t differentiate between sick days taken for regular illness and those taken as part of disability leave. They do this because workers must exhaust all banked sick days before becoming eligible for disability benefits, it said.

“Consequently, the number of sick days reported by the government is to some extent inflated by those on disability leave,” it said.

The data provided by the Treasury Board also “does not enable analysis to determine how significantly sick days have been over-stated due to the inclusion of disability leave,” the report said.

It also says that direct comparisons with the private sector are difficult. The average civil servant is older than the average private-sector worker; there are also more women and more unionized employees.

Accounting for these differences, a Statistics Canada study found that public service absenteeism was still 1.1 days higher than in the private sector.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/06/budget-watchdog-says-sick-leave-costs-are-jumping-public-servants-take-an-average-of-11-5-paid-sick-days-a-year/feed/0stdTony Clement responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Monday November 18, 2013. The federal budget watchdog says public servants take an average of 11.5 paid sick days a year, compared with 18 days reported by Treasury Board PresidentJohn Ivison: Ottawa, public servants on course for old-style labour relations clashhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2013/12/12/john-ivison-ottawa-public-servants-on-course-for-old-style-labour-relations-clash/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/12/12/john-ivison-ottawa-public-servants-on-course-for-old-style-labour-relations-clash/#commentsFri, 13 Dec 2013 00:13:14 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=139174

It’s surprising that Tony Clement has not yet issued a press release thanking the public service unions for the textbook fashion in which they have responded to his provocations. At the same time, the union bosses must be delighted that, at last, they have a Treasury Board president who appears intent on taking a chainsaw to the bureaucracy’s generous benefits package, thereby validating their existence.

It has all the makings of an old-style 1970s labour relations tilt when they all meet up for collective bargaining talks in February. On behalf of the media, I’d like to thank both sides for the anticipated flood of rhetoric, hyperbole and invective.

The only people who may not relish the action are those who rely on the services offered by the 240,000 or so public servants who may very well be on strike by early next year.

The immediate cassus belli is Mr. Clement’s determination to reduce the number of sick days taken by public servants that he currently estimates at 18.2 a year.

The public service unions like the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) dispute this number and say that the 15 bankable sick days a year in their current collective agreement is a “negotiated benefit” that promotes a healthy workplace. Seventeen of 27 collective agreements, most with the biggest unions, come due in February, and 18 unions have formed a united front to take on Mr. Clement.

This is music to Mr. Clement’s ears. He has just fought an honourable tie with the most white collar of Canada’s public service unions, the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO). What started as a dispute over pay escalated into a battle over union rights and respect, in which the Treasury Board president laid down a marker for the fight to come. At six months, the dispute lasted longer than any of the postal work strikes of the 1970s or ’80s.

In that PAFSO fight, Mr. Clement did not have the gift handed to him by PSAC and its allies – namely, defence of the indefensible.

Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian PressBring it on: Treasury Board president Tony Clement seems to be relishing a fight with public service unions.

The Parliamentary Budget Office is currently validating Mr. Clement’s claim of 18.2 days of sick leave, at the request of the NDP’s Paul Dewar. But no one quibbles with a recent Statistics Canada study that said federal government employees take off an average of 14.9 days – 11.4 for illness and 3.5 for personal reasons. That compares to the average in the private sector of 8.3 days.

The difference, StatsCan said, was mainly due to unionization (union members took off 5.4 more days on average than non-unionized employees) and the public sector employing more older and female workers.

However you look at it, the public sector not only takes more days off for sick leave, but its workers can roll them over into subsequent years, if they don’t use their allotment.

The government says it costs taxpayers $1-billion a year to cover the 19,000 public servants who, on any given day, are not at work.

The unions’ curious defence is that there are no “new” costs incurred on top of salary. “At best, it’s a measure of lost productivity, representing the value of work that didn’t get done,” the union says.

Good luck winning the public relations poker game with that hand.

The Conservatives are more happy than a dog with two tails when they have an opponent to demonize

Yet the unions appear intent on trying to do just that. They are already aggrieved by the government’s move to increase the pension contribution of public servants to 50% and by the recent omnibus budget bill. Mr. Clement snuck a provision into that wad of legislation that allows the government to designate unilaterally what constitute “essential services.” Once designated, workers in those services are denied the right to strike in the event of a labour disruption.

The Conservatives are rubbing their hands at the prospect. As with W.C. Fields, they are never for, “always against,” and are more happy than a dog with two tails when they have an opponent to demonize.

In this case, Mr. Clement will use Ms. Benson and her allies as the villains while portraying himself as Captain Canada, defender of the public purse. He has already built a reputation for cuts to spending — program expenses are $3-billion lower than anticipated and are forecast to fall for three consecutive years. A successful skirmish with the unions would bolster his already plausible case for becoming the next finance minister.

But he will have to be careful that hubris does not trip him. He is also bringing in measures to double the premiums that retired public servants pay to their health-care plan, while limiting the eligibility criteria for those who want to join.

The National Association of Federal Retirees has come out against the initiative and it poses a much more sympathetic lobby than the caricatures the Treasury Board president draws of canapé-munching diplomats and malingering bureaucrats.

That quibble aside, it’s all shaping up splendidly for a winter of mild discontent. Once the unions have dusted off their “Harper Hates Me” pins, let battle commence.

This is some of the half-million dollars of booty that one federal department handed out to favoured workers in the last five years.

The Treasury Board Secretariat, with about 1,900 employees, now spends well over $100,000 each year on rewards for staff.

The annual value has quadrupled since 2006, when the Conservative government first came to power.

The value hit a peak of $135,000 in 2011, the year the Conservative government began cutting staff and programs to wipe out the federal deficit by 2015.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement has recently criticized the benefits available to public servants, and publicly vowed to trim them, putting him at odds with unions.

But internal documents show his department has been ever more generous with its so-called “Instant Awards” program, sometimes handing out goods and services worth as much as $500 each.

The haul includes a Sears sewing machine, a notebook computer, a Tiffany ring, a Garmin GPS device, along with a wide range of cash cards for spas, restaurants, gas stations, pubs, Toys R Us, Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart, Tim Hortons and Starbucks.

The cheapest employee rewards have been $10 gift cards for coffee shops or for a bowling alley. One worker was handed a French grammar book worth $14.65, which to some may sound more like a punishment than a reward.

At the high end, many employees were given $500 gift cards for use at Best Buy, for example, or at the downtown Rideau Centre mall for merchandise in most of the shops.

One worker in the “expenditure management sector” got a $50 gift card for use at any Liquor Control Board of Ontario retail outlet.

The internal documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, list the names of the workers but do not spell out the reasons for the hundreds of awards.

Such awards are considered taxable benefits under Canada Revenue Agency rules, and are often listed under both their “gross” value, reported to the taxman, and the “net” value in the hands of the worker.

A $10 gift certificate to Second Cup, for example, is listed as worth $14.29 gross, as reported to CRA. The difference is the tax the employee is expected to pay on the benefit, tax that is paid out by the department.

Awards programs have a cap of $500 net for each item or cash card.

Controversy over employee awards arose a year ago, when a New Democrat MP asked several departments whether they had purchased tickets for sporting events.

Clement’s response was that Treasury Board had bought four employees $1,109 worth of NHL tickets to Senators’ games between 2009 and 2011.

The minister banned purchases of sporting-event tickets soon after the NDP made the information public.

The Foreign Affairs Department also banned such purchases when it was revealed officials had spent $69,498 on hockey and baseball tickets at U.S. missions between 2006 and 2012, largely to promote Canadian exports.

Federal policy encourages rewards for employees’ good work, but notes that “recognition often has no cost involved.”

“Informal and no-cost recognition — it takes a minute,” says a human-resources document on the Treasury Board website.

“Write a Bravo card — leaving a card on the employee’s desk just to say ’Bravo, job well done’. … Stick a post-it-note saying ’Thanks’ on the employee’s workspace.”

Most departments and agencies have employee recognition programs, many with an “Instant Awards” element, a management tool authorized across government in 1990.

One internal survey showed managers prefer “Instant Awards” programs because they’re easy to administer and less expensive than more formal awards.

The Treasury Board, which is responsible for government-wide policies on access to information, delivered the “Instant Awards” documents more than two months after expiry of the statutory deadline set by the Access to Information Act.

A department spokeswoman did not respond to a request last week for comment and information.